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Show In the case of the Colorado River Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation has principal responsibil- ity for preparing a "comprehensive plan" for water resources development. In the Columbia River Basin, Congress has approved the initial units of only the Army En- gineer portion of a coordinated Army Engineer- Bureau of Reclamation basin-wide plan. And although the power produced at Federal projects in the Columbia Basin is marketed from a single basin-wide power pool, the governing statutes vary from project to project. Certain planning in the Delaware River Basin is proceeding under the supervision of an inter- state commission, created by reciprocal State legis- lation but without express reference to the Com- pact Clause of the Constitution. Congress has. approved an interstate compact creating a some- what similar commission for the Potomac River Basin. On the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, the principal activities are those performed by the Army Engineers in the interests of navigation and flood control. Important also are the efforts to control pollution in the Ohio River, and its tributaries, proceeding under an interstate compact. In the Missouri River Basin, Congress has ap- proved a plan which is a composite of separate plans of the Army Engineers and Bureau of Rec- lamation. Certain responsibilities concerning land utilization are vested in both the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Agriculture, the division being unclear. The basis for development of the Rio Grande rests largely upon a treaty between the United States and Mexico. For the Tennessee Valley, a regional agency was created and the President was directed to recommend legislation for comprehensive devel- opment which would foster the "orderly and proper physical, economic, and social develop- ment" of the area, and provide for flood control, navigation, power generation, proper use of mar- ginal lands, reforestation, and the economic and social well-being of the people. The Tennessee Valley Authority is vested with all functions di- rectly related to river development, as well as some functions indirectly related. In the dis- charge of its responsibilities, it is guided by one set of laws covering all aspects of its task. Judicial Views on Comprehensive Develop- ment by the United States.-In 1940, the Su- preme Court of the United States made clearer the extent of the authority of Congress to pro- vide for the comprehensive development of navi- gable waters. It said that "navigable waters are subject to national planning and control in the broad regulation of commerce granted the Fed- eral Government." It is for Congress alone, the Court pointed out, to decide whether a particular project "by itself or as a part of a more compre- hensive scheme" will have such a beneficial effect on the arteries of interstate commerce as to war- rant it. The choice of method is for Congress. For there is no constitutional reason, the Court held, why Congress cannot treat watersheds as a key to flood control on navigable streams and their tributaries. Nor is there a consti- tutional necessity for viewing each reservoir project in isolation from a comprehensive plan covering the entire basin of a particular river. Comparative Summary Thus far, the growth of the law affecting Fed- eral water resources development has been traced. That law has developed in response to expressed needs arising from time to time, as to one and then another of the purposes for which water may be used or controlled: navigation, flood control, ir- rigation, power, other public purposes, and related uses of land. In large measure, each of these needs has been treated separately as it has arisen, and separate administrative machinery for the several needs has confirmed and extended this approach. At the same time, steps have been taken toward comprehensive development, and these have been summarized. The steps taken have permitted construction of multiple-purpose projects, but without altering substantially the underlying bodies of separate law which are largely articu- lated with the principal water resources purposes. And since the underlying bodies of law have not been substantially changed, a composite of these 299 |
